Primadonna
by vibranium
Summary: When Coulson turns up in New Mexico again, the last thing Darcy expected was a job offer from Tony Stark.
1. Chapter 1

It wasn't until Darcy was told by Agent Coul-_strictly-no-fun_-son that she wasn't allowed to tell anyone about her adventures in New Mexico that she finally decided to take him seriously. Well, not entirely; she refused to take down any pictures of Thor from her Facebook, but considering a secret government branch specifically investigated her and stole her iPod, she motioned locking her lips and throwing away the key when Director Fury himself had her sign a full-disclosure agreement in the SHIELD boardroom.

Darcy signed her name carefully on the line and contemplated a smiley face beside it, but considering the look Fury was giving her with his un-patched eye...

"Thank you for your co-operation, Miss Lewis," Coulson said over her shoulder.

"No problem. Hey, am I going to get my iPod back?"

"That's not going to happen," Fury said, raising an eyebrow, a threat, as if to tell her not to argue.

That didn't mean Darcy had to be fine with SHIELD stealing it in the first place.

-

Back in New Mexico, it was becoming clearer that this whole SHIELD-interfering-with-everything-thing wasn't about to stop. Coulson frequently popped up out of nowhere, suit looking ridiculously clean for such a dusty landscape. Darcy scowled at her own reflection in his sunglasses before he took them off without a visible reaction. It only made Darcy want to piss him off even more.

"Miss Lewis -"

"Jane's in the lab," she snapped, making a point of opening the refrigerator and not looking in his direction when she made another cup of coffee. Jane's fifth that day. Well, she had been up since four.

"I'm here to talk to you, actually. And then Dr. Foster depending on your answer."

Darcy narrowed her eyes. "Does this have anything to do with the freakin' rainbow road? Because I swear I'm not withholding anything. Unlike some people."

"I understand you must be frustrated that your iPod was taken away, but it was necessary. And, unfortunately, you won't be getting it back."

Coulson paused as Darcy swirled a teaspoon around in Jane's mug for a few seconds, finally making eye contact. It was another death glare.

"I came here to offer you a job."

Darcy couldn't understand why she was being offered to work for the government when they knew she didn't have any special skills or training. If SHIELD had really investigated her, they'd know she hadn't even graduated yet.

Coulson took out a folder from his briefcase and handed it to Darcy. Everything about him was orderly and clean and that only made Darcy more suspicious. If working for SHIELD meant being like Coulson, count her out. Even if they probably had the most amazing benefits.

The folder contained just one piece of notepad paper with no date or address to indicate its legitimacy. Written haphazardly in fountain pen were the words: "Stark Towers requires your assistance, Darcy Lewis. Your friend Thor recommended you after sharing the taser story."

–

Since Natalie Rushman turned out to be a super-secret agent for SHIELD and the whole Loki with the robot aliens incident in New York, Tony Stark had been looking for an assistant but no-one had come to mind apparently except for Darcy.  
She tried not to be intimidated, but this was Tony Stark. _Tony "I'm Motherfucking Iron Man" Stark_. College hadn't been the same since Iron Man became a real thing, and then Thor fell out of the sky. At least Tony Stark appreciated Darcy's taser habit.

Darcy was flown out to New York the next day, leaving Jane and Erik behind, and although Jane insisted she was happy for Darcy to take up an assistant position, Darcy couldn't help feeling like she was betraying Jane. If the woman stayed up until 6am from then on, it would be her fault. Jane said something about Darcy using her potential elsewhere, not that Darcy had any idea why people kept saying that. She didn't know anything about robotics or team-building exercises or anything. All she knew about The Avengers came from E! News.

For once, Darcy really cared about the impression she made for a potential employer. Jane had been more like a friend than her boss, and if she was going to be fired within the week from SHIELD she wouldn't be surprised. Then again, she didn't want to pass up the opportunity to meet real-life superheroes.

Tony Stark greeted her with a grin, no handshake, and led her into the main living room of his penthouse when she arrived in the afternoon. Fresh off the plane, she had only moments to throw on something business-y and untangle some of the knots in her mane. She thought of taking off her glasses for their first meeting, but decided against it – she'd rather not be tripping over anything in front of her new boss.

"So, Miss Lewis. Welcome."

"Thanks for...this. But I think you've got the wrong idea about me. Or what I was to Jane Foster."

"I doubt that," Stark was already going straight for a crystal decanter and pouring two drinks. It was barely two in the afternoon.

Fuck it, Darcy thought. She didn't mind being Business Drunk if it meant this going smoothly.

Stark handed her a glass and they sat down on a leather couch beside each other. He turned to look at Darcy with a smirk on his face. He was up to something, definitely.

"Thor said something about a young maiden using a device much like his own. After the Initiative first took place, we all bonded a bit. He was pretty proud of you. So you got my attention."

"And you need an assistant with a taser to get you through your day as part-superhero, part-engineer-?"

"I wouldn't say 'superhero', more like –" he laughed. "Actually, I would."

So, he liked to brag. The cockiness did really live up to the reputation. She could hardly blame him for being a little proud of saving people from a full-scale alien invasion. And even without The Avengers he'd stopped the Stark Expo from turning fatal last year. Darcy mentally patted herself on the back for reading all those articles most of last night.

Darcy hadn't drunk from her glass yet, and Stark looked at her pointedly. It didn't stop him from taking a sip while she stalled.

"Oh, God, I hate scotch," she muttered, wincing as she took a gulp of it out of sheer nervousness.

Stark's own glass fogged up as he snorted.

"Ugh. You didn't put any water in this, did you?"

Darcy gulped the rest of it, grimacing.

"No..." Stark said, bemused. "But good of you to finish it anyway."

-

Tony explained it to her that she wasn't working for SHIELD. She was specifically employed by him, and the general idea was for her to keep The Avengers stable by keeping him well fed and in the general direction of his responsibilities.

"You get two weeks paid vacation, but please don't use too much of that in December, because I want you to come to my Christmas party," he said over his shoulder as he took her on a tour of Stark Tower, soon to be renamed Avengers Tower.

Darcy smiled back at him. She'd be fine with Christmas with _The Avengers_.

"So, any thoughts, questions? Concerns?" Tony made the joke of looking around Darcy as if there was a larger crowd, clapping his hands together as they ended up back in the penthouse living room some hours later.

In the corner of her eye, Darcy saw a door handle against one of the glass walls.

"Can we go out on the balcony?"

Another boyish grin from Tony and he practically bounded over the the balcony and swung open the door. He stepped out, and Darcy immediately gaped out at the view.

She'd been to New York before, but she'd never experienced New York from over 2,000 feet.

"Wow," she managed, walking past Tony to lean against the steel railing.

"Yeah."

Tony was watching her take in the sight of the thousands of lights surrounding them, the distant sound of traffic far below. There was a helicopter somewhere in the night sky, circling the city.

-

It doesn't take long to get into the routine of it all – or the chaos, because Tony rarely follows a routine and constantly needs poking into the 'right direction', namely appointments, consistent sleeping patterns and eating three square meals a day.

Darcy doesn't mind, until she figures out he's equally frustrating as he is intelligent. From her apartment in the Tower, each night means paperwork and organising, only to be interrupted by Tony's spontaneity. Frequent all-nighters in the workshop and 'forgetting' to do much else.

It was only Darcy's first week with just her and Tony in the Tower, but he already had her wanting to strangle him after she brought him something to eat.

"What's that?"

"Turkey on rye."

"I can see that, but what's it doing in here?"

Tony didn't look up from whatever it was he was doing to an engine on his workbench. Darcy tapped her foot and handed him the plate with the sandwich under his nose, forcing him to acknowledge it was his.

"It's that meal in the middle of the day you're supposed to have. Eat it."

"I'm fine. I'm just working on something here."

Darcy felt like shaking him because he was still not looking up at her. If this was supposedly her job, to make sure he kept himself out of trouble, what was the point of him hiring her when he didn't listen to her anyway?

Darcy took a second to wait for him to take the food from her, but when he didn't (despite it being literally under his nose) Darcy put a free hand on his chest and pushed him back as hard as she could, and his chair swivelled several feet away from the workbench.

"Hey!"

"You're paying me to do this, dude," she said, eyebrow raised.

They glare at each other for a moment, and Tony smirks at her.

"Just take the goddamn sandwich."

And he did, finally. Darcy turned her heels, making her way back to the door. She turned back for a second to see Tony taking a bite. Darcy felt a burst of pride.

"Anything else you need, Mr. Stark?"

"No, that's all, Miss. Lewis."

-

Meeting the other Avengers happens the next week, when they start moving into the other apartments in the Tower. Thor is enthusiastic as ever, greeting Darcy with a bone-crushing hug as he lifts her off the ground into his massive arms.

"Hey, buddy, we talked about my frailty," she squeaks, though she's pleased to see the big goofball.

"You don't seem that frail," said the agent she knew was Hawkeye. He stood next to Agent Romanoff (Darcy couldn't help herself asking Tony about Natalie Rushman, and he rolled his eyes at her, correcting her: "Romanoff. Black Widow, all that."), looking up at Darcy in Thor's arms in the Avengers Tower main sitting area.

Hawkeye turned to Agent Romanoff and said, "She doesn't seem that delicate to you, right, Agent Romanoff?"

"No," Natasha didn't break eye contact with Darcy as she studied her. She was beautiful and stone faced, but Darcy detected the slightest tone of amusement in her low voice.

Thor put Darcy down and Darcy held out a hand (she was getting better at greeting strangers with a job like this) to the SHIELD agents.

"Darcy," she said, taking Hawkeye's hand, smiling.

"Clint. That's Natasha," he said, as Natasha had crossed her arms.

-

It was weird to be organising a pizza party for a group of people like this. All the orders varied to some degree, and Darcy typed frantically on her tablet, courtesy of Stark Tech, while The Avengers lounged about and chatted.

"Right. Pepperoni, Hawaiian, Meat Lover's and Vegetarian," she murmured. She took the spot beside Clint and let out a sigh. She was tired after being on the phone to The Daily Show that afternoon. She hadn't been able to contain her excitement at Tony making an appearance next week. With any luck, she could be invited along and brag about Jon Stewart on Facebook if Coulson let her.

"How's the job been so far?" Clint asked her in a low voice, though he hadn't turned his head to speak to her. It was the conspiracy training showing, right?

"Okay. Is he always supposed to be so determined to not follow orders?" she whispered, taking a sip of her drink, noting she was the only one using a coaster.

"You have no idea."

She turned her head and looked Clint straight on. He smiled widely for the first time that night, lines forming beside his eyes. Darcy didn't know what to make of that.

-

It got easier. The Avengers all had different jobs and she just had to keep up somehow. Natasha and Clint were either at the Tower, at meetings with SHIELD, on a mission that Darcy learned she'd never hear about in great detail, or training in the gym. She'd only seen Bruce a couple times because he was always wrapped up in something in his lab (this reminded her too much of Jane, and she realised she missed her old boss whenever she thought about Bruce Banner).

Captain America, because she hadn't quite got used to calling him Steve, was either drawing or going through punching bags. The only stress was getting Tony to read memos; he was usually in his workshop or annoying her at her desk when she was trying to work, or off trying to annoy a fellow Avenger.

It got easier. But only when things got better, Darcy knew sooner or later something would change that, especially if she was working with a bunch of superheroes.

-

Darcy got an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach a few weeks into the job when JARVIS announced Pepper Potts' presence in the Stark Tower one afternoon.

"Oh, God."

Darcy scrambled all the paper on her desk into one pile and pulled on her pair of stilettos from under her desk and hopped towards the elevator out in the hallway.

Waiting for an elevator, a voice behind her ear made her jump.

"She'll like you."

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, CLINT, DON'T DO THAT!"

"Ow, don't do _that_!" Clint rubbed the back of his head where she hit him.

The elevator doors opened, Darcy and Clint walked in, and she glared at him as she pressed a button for the ground floor.

"Why should I care if she likes me? I'm working for Tony."

"Well, you know better than anyone that she was Tony's assistant for ten years before you, and now she's CEO of Stark Industries, technically both yours and Stark's boss now."

He smirked. He liked watching for her reactions to things.

Darcy threw her hands in the air. "Do you want to make me puke?"

He practically cackled, the prick. "They're going out for dinner. You meeting her is only a formality, I'm guessing."

"And how often do you snoop around in the vents so you can hear about this kind of information?"

Clint gave a shit-eating grin and opened his mouth to speak.

She turned to him, with a warning finger pointed. "_Don't_ answer that. _Never_ answer that."


	2. Chapter 2

The elevator doors opened and Darcy stepped out, deciding to ignore Clint. She stalked off towards the front desk, where she saw Tony and a tall redhead laughing together.  
The redhead turned, and God...she was so different. Not only was she tall, she was slim and wore a chic grey blazer, pencil skirt and the pointiest high heels Darcy had ever seen.  
Darcy realized her mouth was open and clamped it shut and tried to smile.

"Pepper, this is Darcy Lewis," Tony regarded Darcy.

"Nice to finally meet you, I meant to come earlier, but -"

"No, it's fine. I'm, so –" Humbled? Darcy searched for a word but only felt awkward. "Happy to meet you."

-

Tony dismissed Darcy soon after, telling her to have some fun while he was gone. Gone meaning he was on a date and wasn't likely to return her calls that night if something came up.

So Darcy bought as much vodka as she could carry and did several stupid things in the meantime.

-

Darcy persuaded an impromptu Avengers meet-up in the TV below Tony's penthouse. Captain America – uh, Steve, was just there out of curiosity; there was a Seinfeld marathon and he was only just beginning to catch up with the pop culture references.

Thor was off in New Mexico ("I know it probably takes him zero time at all to get to Jane via Molner-" "Mjölnir," Tony interjected. "-but I hope for his and Jane's sakes he doesn't get too many bugs in his teeth before they make out together in the desert."), and Natasha outright refused.

It was just Darcy in a Captain America and Hawkeye sandwich. Things could be worse.

Darcy poured shots. "Every time you see Jerry with white sneakers, take a shot."

"I don't want any, thanks," Steve looked down at his shot glass, troubled by Darcy's assistance.

"Fine," Darcy said, and snatched it from him before throwing it back.

Clint stared at her.

"What? I'm just warming up."

"You sound like Tony," Clint muttered, and Steve even smirked at that.

Darcy rolled her eyes dramatically. "Do not mention Tony Stark to me tonight."

-

Steve left Clint and Darcy on the couch after a couple hours, saying something about reading, but Darcy wasn't sure. She'd forgotten how many drinks she'd had, and by that point, she'd just been taking greedy swigs from the bottle, not caring about manners or behaving properly in front of co-workers. She was sick of trying so hard to be liked.

"Hey, slow down on the sauce, babe."

Clint actually took the bottle from her. Darcy blushed and then glared at him.

"I'm fine. Jesus," she snapped, though she wasn't. She noticed Clint's arm was around her shoulder.  
"What's that doing there?"

"You don't mind?"

"No."

Darcy considers moving away, but thinks, fuck it, and places a hand on Clint's knee. The TV blares but neither of them are taking it in. The tension in the air is broken when Clint lifts his arm off from Darcy and takes her hand off him awkwardly.

"That was stupid," he said, more to himself than Darcy.

She pouted. "Oh, come on. We've been going along with this forever, man. And besides -" she grabbed the vodka bottle back and took a gulp. She shuddered, momentarily lost for words.

"What?"

Darcy closed her eyes and opened them slowly, gazing up at Clint through her lashes.

"I know you want me," she purred.

Clint's reaction was just a slight movement in his jaw, his hands fists resting on his knees. Darcy liked to watch him squirm. She was getting back at him for teasing her before.

She leant even closer to him still, and placed a slightly shaking hand on his thigh, slowly moving up while her mouth was just beside Clint's ear. Her hand came to rest on his crotch.

"I know you want to fuck me."

Clint turned his head just slightly, dark-eyed. "Darcy, stop it."

"Why? You don't like me?"

God, she hated herself for talking like that, but that was how she felt. Vulnerable and slightly desperate. She was so far gone, too. That didn't help her judgement. This was probably the least classy thing she'd ever done, forcing herself onto a guy.

"You're really drunk."

Clint placed his hands on her wrists and physically pushed her away, even if it was just gentle and not meant to cause any harm, his touch burned her.

"You don't want me," she said, and fucking hell, she thought she might cry.

Clint didn't say anything, he just looked at her with furrowed eyebrows, studying her.

"HEY!"

Gazes averted to Tony, who looked livid.

"Barton, what the fuck did you do to her?"

"Nothing."

Tony marched over to the couch and stood over Clint.

"Nothing," Clint insisted, before he stood up to leave.

Clint left without another word, Tony staring daggers at his retreating back.

-

"So, you and Clint."

Tony said it more like a statement than a question. Hell, it was that obvious. He'd probably seen nothing but Hawkeye and a cat in heat perched on the leather couch, not his assistant.  
Tony was nursing a scotch while Darcy continued on her vodka binge as they stood on the balcony.  
Well, Tony could stand. Darcy sort of swayed until she sunk to the floor beside him, cross-legged.

"Hmm. It's stupid. He's a liar."

"Don't worry about it, kid. Him and Natasha are basically... well, I don't know what. But don't take it personally."

"Don't call me kid! I'm definitely _not_ a kid."

Darcy didn't mean to come across as that bitter, but the vodka wasn't helping her composure.

They stayed silent for a moment or so. Darcy wasn't sure how fast time was passing.

"Why am I here?" she murmured. How was this her life, and not someone else's, someone who could really do a good job at this kind of thing, and keep their hands to themselves?

Tony frowned at that. He rarely did anything but smirk in Darcy's presence, so this was new.

"Because I asked you here," he said, as if that was a good enough answer as any.

Darcy laughed in spite of herself. Tony watched her with curiosity. What was it with these fucking people and looking at her like a novelty?

"What now?" she slurred. "'Calm down, Darcy, you're being stupid'?"

Tony shook his head, for once keeping his mouth shut. It was a miracle.

"How was your date with Pepper? Can't have been any worse than mine with Clint," Darcy muttered, emptying the vodka bottle and placing it beside her knee.

Tony didn't make eye contact. "Uh..."  
"Hey, it's not my business, I get it. But you were the one yelling at Clint."

"Yeah, because he made you cry."

"I wasn't crying! I had something in my eye..."

Darcy looked at her hands. "She's really pretty, Pepper. I mean, so fucking pretty and calm it feels stupid that you'd ever consider me a replacement. And I'm not fishing or anything. I know what she looks like, what she is to you."

Tony made some kind of irritated, strangling sound at the back of his throat and rubbed his eyes.

"It wasn't really much of a date, more like... a break-up, I guess."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"You should have told her no, done something stupid, like me."

Tony actually laughed at that. "No... I've done enough to her. She deserves some time away from me."

-

Darcy avoided Clint for a few days, but if she was honest about it, she wasn't sure whether he was avoiding her, too. He had the knack of disappearing and reappearing from wherever he went without warning, sometimes for whole days. The vent, or his nest, Darcy didn't mind where he was, just as long as she didn't have to see his face. Especially if Tony was present, too.

If only the universe would grant her this one thing.

-

Natasha confronted her one morning at her desk. It was probably the most frightening moment of Darcy's life at that point. Natasha was all fury in her eyes most of the time, anyway, but this time Darcy had known she'd done something wrong.

"_Ah_! I mean, hi," Darcy babbled.

"Clint's been walking around like a dog with its tail between its legs."

"I wouldn't know. He's been in hiding."

"Clearly," Natasha said, deadpan. "Should I tell him you're interested in someone else, and to grow a pair?"

Natasha's tone of voice gave no indication whether she cared too much.

"Uh, I guess."

Darcy blushed and pretended to be reading a particularly engrossing expense report.  
Natasha turned to leave, and Darcy couldn't help staring after her with a mixture of wonder and fear.

"Natasha, do you think he hates me?"

Natasha froze and turned back, eyes narrowing. "No."

"Okay, that's... good."

"Yes," Natasha returned to her deadpan state. "For the record, neither do I."

-

Jane calls a few days later. She sounds excited, but not manic like she could start spouting equations at Darcy, because they both knew well enough Darcy couldn't keep up with most of the science-y stuff that got Jane so amped up. Jane was obviously completely smitten.

"Just please don't tell me if Thor actually yells about his hammer in the throes of ecstasy."

Jane sounded only slightly bashful as she giggled on the other end of the line.

"I'm expecting we may be having Thor's friends visiting soon. Those readings we got last week..."

"Wait, what readings? I didn't get a memo about that."

"What? I confirmed with Coulson I could send this to Stark as soon as possible! What is wrong wth that guy?"

Darcy gripped the phone a little tighter and grit her teeth. "I could give you a list, but I think I'm just gonna hang up now. I have a future murder victim to visit."

-

Darcy flicked Tony behind his ear once she got to Bruce's lab. Tony had been playing in there all morning.

"What's this about Jane's reading, huh?"

"Ow!"

Bruce stayed silent until Darcy rounded on him. "Hey! You're his accomplice! Why wasn't I told anything?"

"Don't hit _him_, Darce."

Darcy pinched Bruce's arm, and he tensed. "I think Dr. Banner can take it."

She stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently. "Well?"

Tony rubbed his ear, the wuss. "It was inconclusive. There was a spark in the energy readings last week and Foster hasn't seen a pattern since. We're just keeping a correspondence."

"You could let me in on this nerd newsletter every once in a while!" she yelled, hands in the air, just as Tony screamed, "Why are you yelling at me?!" with the same gesture.

"_Fine! Don't keep me in the loop! Go to Hell!_"

She stomped out, flipping the bird as the door slammed behind her.

Darcy may have been a little over-dramatic, but it got the point across.

-

Darcy woke to JARVIS' voice in the night.

"Miss Lewis," the clear English accent broke threw her slumber.

"Ah-b'guh?" Darcy lifted her head just slightly from the pillow. "Wha-?"

"The Avengers are gathering downstairs. Mr. Stark requested your presence."

"I'm sure he did," Darcy mumbled, pulling a hoodie over her pyjamas and shuffling to the bathroom to quickly splash water on her face. "JARVIS, are The Avengers _assembling_?"

"I believe so, ma'am," he said.

"Cool."

Darcy was sure she had a goofy grin on her face as she walked out the door to the elevator.

-

Darcy hadn't been aware this was a costume party. Everyone except her and Tony were in some form of suit. Even Coulson was dressed in another identical suit of his, while Darcy was in her dowdy pyjamas, and barefoot.

And Clint had eye contact with her, too. Ah, that's just _great_.

"What's the situation?" Steve was the one to speak for everyone. Darcy couldn't help but stare at the red, white, and blue.

God Bless America.

"We're getting some reports in from the Pacific that a figure resembling Loki has shown up in town," Coulson spoke calmly but everyone else visibly tensed. "He's been making threats, stealing some civilian vehicles."

"Who knew the bastard knew how to drive?" Tony said, but he wasn't smiling.

The plan was to wait for Loki to show, and they didn't know when that could happen. From what Darcy had gathered since the Destroyer in New Mexico, his powerful magic was unpredictable, and it sounded like he'd got even stronger since he was last in New York.  
For all she knew, he'd been imprisoned in Asgard by Thor's father.

Darcy noticed she was shaking when she made coffee for herself and sat at her desk, still in her pyjamas.

"You okay?"

She locked eyes with Tony, who'd been leaning again the desk, still without the Iron Man suit on.

"I will be, I'm sure," Darcy lied, and her teeth started to chatter.


	3. Chapter 3

The Avengers could do very little at that point. Loki had still not surfaced after an hour's wait in the main sitting room, and Darcy could do even less. There was nothing to organize or sort; all that mattered was the inevitable battle, and though she wasn't that involved in the actual business of fighting Loki, if it came to that point (and let's be honest, Loki didn't seem like the kind of guy to leave well enough alone), Darcy wasn't prepared.

She kept shaking at her desk and played the event of The Destroyer in New Mexico over and over in her mind. And she'd heard all about Loki and his mind-control games. It was more not knowing Loki's limit that frightened her. And where the hell was Thor, anyway?

Thor smashed easily into the tiled balcony, furious and equally confused.

"My father banished him to a silent world to contemplate his misgivings," Thor boomed, as if a conversation the team had been happening never finished and it was perfectly normal to just enter any building via crashing into the side of it. "I do not know how he was able to transport himself here."

"Maybe he cut a deal with someone," Clint said, giving a half-shrug and ignoring the flecks of paint and dust Thor was shaking off onto his boots. "The point is, he's on Earth, right?"

Darcy dashed into the sitting room, and Thor smiled at her.

"Thor! Oh, thank God."

She ran to him and squeezed his side as he patted her a little too hard on the head.

"Is anyone else pretending they're not offended by that comment?"

Darcy ignored Tony and clung to Thor for a bit longer. "How's Jane?"

"She is safe and quite busy. Why are you in your sleeping garments?"

"Good question," Darcy muttered. "Maybe I'll go change if Coulson lets me."

-

"We've lost track of him," Coulson announced an hour later, close to dawn. The sky had turned a gray-blue and the traffic below Avengers Tower was already becoming packed.

"Shit."

"My thoughts exactly," Coulson replied to Darcy's outburst. He was checking his phone. "If he doesn't make an appearance we'll have to assume it was another hoax or Loki is just taking his time."

"So this was a dress rehearsal?" Tony narrowed his eyes at Coulson just slightly. "Interesting."

"This was a legitimate report, as far as we know. This wasn't a test."

"Sure," Darcy could just hear Clint murmur to Natasha.

"So we can go back to bed? Are we dismissed?" Darcy couldn't help smiling. She could get a couple hours' sleep before officially starting work later.

"Yes, you're dismissed."

Darcy got up from the couch and planned to skip along back to the elevator, not caring who saw, but stopped in her tracks when she saw a face in the window in the corner of her eye.

Darcy screamed.

Tony jumped, Bruce immediately tensed, and the others took a fighting stance and looked at Darcy.

"What is it?"

Darcy noticed Tony was trying to get her attention, so she looked away from the window for just a split second, only to look back to find Loki standing in front of her this time, grinning.

Darcy had never seen Loki up close before. He was much taller than her, lean and pale. He wasn't wearing his helmet or carrying his staff, but the crazy face was certainly not helping Darcy calm down. She screamed again, jumping back.

"That is perhaps the most dramatic reaction I have ever seen," he mused, grin spreading wider.

"Brother, please leave," Thor begged, and for the first time, Darcy saw him frightened. "Return to Asguard before we have to battle."

Coulson was _glaring_ at Loki. "Do what your brother says. Leave."

"I was just paying a visit, to see how things are proceeding on this end," Loki turned his head just slightly, his eyes travelling over to Clint.

"Give me any excuse not to," Clint snarled, bow raised.

-

A fight didn't break out, which didn't make any sense. What made even less sense, if it were possible, was Loki turning himself in with a smile. When they arrived at SHIELD headquarters with prisoner in tow, Darcy still felt like this was some weird dream and she'd wake up at any second with a spot of drool under her chin at her desk.

Loki was hauled into an Interview Room B, which Darcy knew was not the appropriate term for the conversation about to follow, and she was sure she had never been in an interview room in handcuffs.

It was a weird site, right? Captain America in costume, along with a big surfer-looking guy with a giant hammer, plus two SHIELD agents clearly packing heat at the crack of dawn loitering in a hallway. Not to mention Tony Stark in his frayed jeans and torn Black Sabbath shirt with a girl in her pyjamas beside him, and Bruce Banner rubbing his eyes and replacing his glasses.

Coulson appeared after a few minutes alone with Loki. He shook his head pointedly at Natasha, who nodded.

"Understood."  
"He also wants Darcy to come in, too. Says he won't say anything without her there."

Darcy felt several pairs of eyes on her at once.

"Understood," Natasha said.

"No, not understood!" Darcy felt like stamping her feet. Hell, she'd had maybe three hours sleep.

"Do I have to even ask whether she has her taser?" Coulson looked at anyone but Darcy.

Just as Darcy followed after Natasha into Interview Room B, she overheard Tony taking bets on how long it would take for Darcy to panic and buzz Loki into submission. Darcy for once didn't roll her eyes at something her boss said because it was actually quite sweet of him to suggest she was even slightly capable of going up against the God of Mischief.

Loki was sitting on the other side of the table in the middle of the room. There was nothing special about the location, except that it screamed 'Interrogation Room: One of Many' to Darcy.

"Black Widow! And the child," Loki greeted, pleased.

Natasha and Darcy exchanged glances, but Darcy found herself staring into dead eyes. This was obviously a familiar territory to her.

"Loki," she said stiffly, and sat in the chair opposite to him, placing her hands on the table and looking straight at him. Darcy couldn't handle that just yet and instead opted for standing a little further away against the wall, crossing her arms.

"Why are you here? What's the plan?"

"What, no games this time?"

There was a brief silence, and whatever they were referring to was not something Darcy understood. She'd known about some of Natasha's methods, but forced whatever romantic ones she may have resorted to the back of her mind. Loki wasn't ugly, but neither was he sane.

"No."

"And what about her?"

Loki was talking about Darcy, but didn't look her way, smiling as he waited for Darcy to show any sign of reaction. She looked at the floor.

"You tell me. But first, why are you here?"

"Does it bother you that you are always the one dealing with the particularly difficult people in this organisation? They send you because you're not a porcelain doll, like the rest of them. All new and perfect."

He spoke in low tones, but every word was enunciated so precisely like a speech. There had to be a plan to this, or otherwise, why play ball?

"You're nothing. You kill people for personal gains. And fun."  
Darcy was glad she wasn't on the other side of that table looking into Natasha's eyes. She could practically hear the stink-eye from where she stood.

"Don't try and talk like Fury does. You're not like them, and you know that. Your ledger, or what have you, has made that perfectly clear."

For the first time, Loki's eyes flickered up to Darcy, and she froze. The malice was no longer covered by some kind of trouble-making glint.

"And you...you're just dead weight."

Don't listen to the crazy guy, Darcy thought. It was a desperate plea to herself.

"As soon as possible, these mortals will throw you aside. When everything is gone, everyone will turn on you."

"If you mean the public, that isn't news to any of us."

Darcy remembered the celebrations of peace, and the optimism. Then came the people who blamed The Avengers for Loki having come to Earth in the first place. Avoid an invasion and experience a mutiny.

"Yes, but I am aware of what you are capable of," Loki said to Natasha. "Your tricks."

This was something else Natasha wasn't going to go into, clearly, because she ignored him, stood up from the table and turned back to Darcy.

"I need at least one cup of coffee to deal with this bullshit."

Darcy hadn't heard Natasha curse before, so Loki obviously must have walked into some deep shit by bringing up the past.

"You're leaving me with _him_," Darcy yelled, just as Loki muttered, "Leaving me with the child."

Natasha glanced at Darcy. "Yes."

Natasha walked swiftly to the door and shut it behind her. Darcy dared to look over at Loki, only see him suddenly right in front of her, leaning over her. He closed the gap between them by placing a fist beside her head against the wall.

"Tell me," Loki said casually. "What is it about you that gives you a reason to be anywhere near Stark and his friends?"

His face was barely inches from hers.

"I worked for Jane Foster. Your brother's girlfriend."

How Darcy managed to speak, she didn't know. She felt like the words were just coming out of her like pulling a loose thread on a sweater. Unravelling. Why wasn't anyone beating down the door to get her out? There had to be at least three cameras in that room alone.

"Yes, I know her. Don't understand why he wastes time on her."

"I don't know why you waste your time here."

Darcy attempted a joke in front of a psycho alien god thing. She couldn't stop herself. God, what was happening to her? Everything she just said was coming straight from –

"My magic's making you talk, if you were wondering. No need to panic. I just can't trust anyone here to speak clearly. To not hide anything. I learnt that the hard way last time."

"She tricked you! Natasha tricked you."

Loki suddenly punched the wall beside her head. "I'm asking the questions!"

Jesus! Calm down, dude, Darcy thought. "Jesus! Calm down, dude."

The anger was gone and he half-smiled at her.

"Oh, God. Stop. Just stay the one personality at any given time, okay? I'll talk to you, just don't keep bashing shit and then smiling at me because I'm only going to clam up in a panic and use my taser, alright?"

"What, this thing?"

Loki lifted up her taser which he had in his other hand. The little shit.

"You little shit!"

He laughed this time while Darcy attempted to swipe it from him.

"_Hey_," he snarled, the smile fading almost instantly. "I'll use this if I have to."

"So, you've got me up against a wall. This isn't the way we court a woman here, if you were wondering. It's not what Thor did."

"Well, good," Loki hissed. "I'm hoping I never do anything like my dear _brother_ ever again."

Darcy swallowed, running her lip over her dry lips, and something dawned on Loki's face at this reflex action. He dropped the taser by their feet and grabbed her chin, forcing her face towards him.

"Oh, I think I understand it now. The appeal of something like you around when it feels like the world's ending. What are you to Stark?"

"I mostly make coffee, sort mail," Darcy mumbled, trying to pry herself from him. "But why is the world ending?"

"That'll be up to me, my lady," Loki said, back to grinning. "I'm going to make The Avengers regret ever battling me. They'll regret it as they watch everyone around them die, _everything_ around them burning."

There was a few seconds of silence between them as Loki's eyes bore into her and she felt her jaw bruise from his grip as he forced her to look right back at him.  
The door banged open, and there was Fury.

"That's enough. Let her go."

And then Darcy realised she'd been bait all along, not Natasha. Or maybe she'd been used by both parties.

-

Returning to Avengers Tower, no-one spoke. Darcy walked ahead of everyone, refusing to look at the concerned faces. Natasha was stone-faced as usual, making a point of not looking at Darcy and listening to Clint as he murmured something into her ear. Tony was angry.

"How is this my life?"

Darcy realized she said this aloud, as Bruce looked up from whatever the hell it was he was reading. How could he be reading at a time like this? Darcy wanted to run up to him and flip the book out of his hands. Tony fumbled his decanter and replaced it, turning to look at her with dark eyes.

"You all just let me stay in there, and I had no idea what he was going to do to me."

Darcy felt her face grow hot. "I was fucking bait and you just let him do that to me."

More silence. Natasha bit her lip.

"Is that all I am to you guys?" Her voice went quiet and she gripped one of the couches as she leant against it, steadying herself.

"No. Never," Tony snapped. "I am fucking done with following any stupid idea Fury has from now on."

"It was a minor miscalculation," Natasha retorted hotly. "We had no idea how powerful Loki could be without his staff. He was handcuffed. It was a mistake."

"Not good enough." To Darcy's utter surprise, it was Bruce who spoke this time. "I've had my own bad experiences with SHIELD before, sure. But what Fury did was just plain bargaining."

He breathed deeply for a moment. "And Loki's hand print will probably be on your face for a few days, Darcy."

"Everyone, let's just calm down," said Steve, hands raised slightly from his sides. Tony looked like he wanted to rip him a new one for having said anything.

"Good idea," Darcy breathed. She turned her heel in and practically ran to the elevator.

-

JARVIS asked Darcy if she was okay, which was a nice touch to the AI. She croaked the level wanted and arrived at Tony's workshop. Her finger flew over the keypad and she let herself in, walking past the car parts, computers, food scraps and empty coffee cups up to the shelves by the back wall and sank to the ground, sighing.

She thought she was going to cry, but instead she just felt a squeeze somewhere in her chest, like shame. And maybe disappointment, too. She could understand Loki using her to send a message to The Avengers and plant seeds of doubt into her mind, because he was the consistent bad guy in this scenario.

She couldn't expect anything kind from him, but this team had took her in six points from graduating, telling her she was special enough to be a part of saving people. She'd been a fool to think she was important. Fury had made that clear, and Natasha. Clint, too, now that she thought about it, and she felt the heat return to her face.

Her chin hurt. She massaged her chin, making chewing motions. Bruce was right. There was definitely some bruising there.

"Darcy?"

Oh, God. Tony.

"Uh, yeah?"

"You in here?"

"Obviously."

Tony appeared, frowning sadly, with two drinks and a brown paper bag under one arm. He walked up to Darcy and sat on the floor beside her. For all his money and fame, Darcy appreciated he didn't think he was above sitting on the tiles beside her.

She took her drink and took a gulp, wincing. They ignored that it wasn't even 9:30.

Tony attempted to hand her the bag, nudging her knee with it. Fuck, she was still in her fucking pyjamas.

"I think you got me this doughnut but I left it upstairs and now I don't want it any more."

"Are you still angry?"

"Of course," Tony said, but he cracked a smile. Darcy took out the doughnut, pink icing sticking to her fingers.

"You know, for the first time ever, I'm not going to eat this doughnut."

Tony looked genuinely sad at this. "Aw, jeez."

"Hmm, I know," Darcy agreed, drinking.

"I don't want to go to any meetings today. I should get some plans done up and start a project I've had in mind since the early hours of this morning," Tony said, frowning.

"Do you ever want to go to meetings, anyway?"

Tony shook his head.

"I'll make the calls later. I just want to rest for a second if that's okay."

"That's fine, Darce."

"No, I wasn't really asking for permission."

He laughed at that. She couldn't help but smile back. She rolled her shoulders against the wood of the shelf, sure that an encyclopaedia of God-knows-what was sticking into her back.

"Why am I here, Tony?"

"I thought we already talked about this," Tony narrowed his eyes, ignoring Darcy's concern.

"Not really. I don't remember much of that night. Except that you said that you wanted me, and that Clint -"

Darcy stopped herself. Maybe it was the 'wanted' part that made Tony stop mid-sip, or it was the unexpected mention of Clint, but either way it was an obvious reaction.

"I didn't tell you I tried to hook up with Clint, right?"

A wicked smile spread across Tony's face as he got back to drinking. "Yes, you did."

"Oh, God."

"It's actually quite amusing."

Darcy huffed. "Well, then, I'll try my luck with Bruce and see fucking hilarious that is to you."

Tony went quiet and looked into his glass for a moment, before looking back at Darcy, and she found herself licking her lips again, a chill running down her spine.

"Don't do that. I'd get jealous."

Darcy placed the pseudo-confident mask on again and rose to retreat as fast as possible. She ignored his searching gaze. She left the doughnut on the floor, but finished her glass and placed it on one of the other shelves. She gave Tony a half-smile and placed a hand on his head, running her fingers just for a moments through his hair.

She dropped her hand and turned, only to have her hand grabbed from below. She looked down and Tony was still staring up at her.

"Interesting choice of words you used about me wanting you," he murmured.

There was a moment, just a moment in-between what was about to happen that Darcy wanted to savour. Just looking at Tony and knowing he was showing his cards, his honest affection.

"Come here," she whispered, and he was up in a second, closing the distance between them as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

The first kiss was gentle. Tony lowered his head just slightly as Darcy leant upwards, their noses brushing and then she pressed her lips against his in a chaste peck.  
That felt fine. It felt good. She wanted more.

She placed her hands on the sides of his face and pulled at him, breathing through her nose. Tony gave across between a laugh and an appreciative groan as he opened his mouth to let her tongue massage his. They began to speed up, kisses becoming greedy and desperate.

Darcy's hands travelled to under Tony's shirt, gliding her fingers over his stomach, the skin of his lower back. She pushed him into a shelf and he gave a grunt.

"Ow."

His complaint was short-lived as Darcy kissed him again, sucking on his lower lip and pressing him against the shelf. Her hand snaked up his chest this time, stopping at the chest piece and just lightly pressing it with her fingertips. They broke apart and Darcy looked up at Tony through her lashes.

"I'm still in my fucking pyjamas, Tony."

He grabbed her and they switched sides, Darcy's backside pressing against the books and she winced, wrapping her arms around Tony's neck and kissing him again, filthy and demanding. Darcy's hands dropped to Tony's waist as he pushed with his thigh between her legs. He was hard against her leg and Darcy felt her heart start to beat faster.

It took her seconds to get out of her stupid pyjama buttons, though the drawstring seemed to be more stubborn than usual. Darcy tried to not seem too desperate to lose her pants, but Tony seemed to appreciate her enthusiasm and groaned when she started on his fly with shaking fingers.

Tony wrapped his arms around her waist again, lifting her up and pressed inside her. Darcy gave a slight gasp and held onto him with her bare thighs as her hand reached up to the shelf, trying to gain some purchase.

He filled her slowly, shakily as he held her up.

"Fuck," Darcy hissed, and Tony buried his face in her hair as he lunged slowly, deliberately.

Darcy gripped a fistful of Tony's hair, trying desperately to hold on. She was already panting into his hair, wondering how long she would last, before –

She clenched around him and came, like a little ripple. It was short, but sweet. Tony didn't stop. With the bucking hips, the groaning, their bodies pressing together, Darcy felt herself let go.

Tony resurfaced from Darcy's mane and kissed her, open-mouthed and rough. Darcy drew her tongue across his teeth and heard another groan from the back of his throat. He sounded short of breath, and beads of sweat were beginning to appear on his forehead.

They didn't come together. It went like this.

Tony kissed her neck and without warning, touched her clit with his palm. Darcy felt the surge of pleasure as he lunged into her, rubbing her, and her toes curled while she clenched around him. She recovered enough to grab Tony's chin to bring his mouth to hers again, staring straight into his eyes. She wanted to watch him come.

She felt weak and boneless, blissfully exhausted, and waited for Tony to open his eyes, and they were caught in each other's gaze.

"Fuck, Darcy," he whispered.

He came, babbling nonsensically, and leaned in to kiss her again, riding it out and shuddering.

-

He was still inside her for some time as they held each other like that for a moment or two, and then Tony started to giggle, bordering on hysteria. Darcy smiled at him, slowly lowering herself from against the shelf, so her feet touched the floor, and they separated.

She liked the feeling of her skin against his jean-clad legs, his hands resting on her waist.

She kissed him on the cheek, breathing in his smell of incense and motor oil.


	4. Chapter 4

Only several hours passed before Loki managed to escape. There was one fatality, three injuries. The dead man got too close when handing Loki food through the slit in the metal door; he had a broken neck, and lay on the other side of the door as Loki opened it from the inside with his magic. He stalked down the hallway and threw three agents aside with ease. These were the things The Avengers were told the evening of Loki's capture. What everyone had predicted came true: Loki intended to be caught only to escape SHIELD headquarters. Whatever happened in between with Natasha and Darcy was sending a message to SHIELD that Loki was more capable, and more powerful than they originally assumed.

The Avengers Tower was notified of Loki's departure through a message JARVIS received from Fury. The team had been divided into their own leisurely activities. Deep-down, everyone had just been biding their time, too. Natasha and Clint were sparring in the gym, Bruce was meditating in his apartment, Thor had flown back to Jane in New Mexico, Steve was on the balcony drawing the view on his sketchpad, Tony was in his workshop, and Darcy was at her desk pretending nothing had changed since that morning. Her cheeks burned with the memory of Tony pressing her into a shelf while they fucked.

Though JARVIS' tone had been calm and quiet as usual, the reaction of the team was almost immediate. Within seconds, they assembled in the main sitting area of the penthouse.

"I'll call Jane," Darcy stammered, and produced her phone from her jeans pocket, speed-dialing New Mexico.

"This is what he wanted," Steve murmured. "If Loki's on the warpath we need to be prepared to leave as soon as we hear anything else."

He was stating the obvious, but then again, maybe he was just talking to Darcy. She still hadn't experience a full-fledged Avengers mission yet. She nodded, and caught Tony's gaze for a brief moment before she turned her back on the team and walked towards the balcony and stepped out, phone pressed against her ear. Jane was taking too long to pick up.

"Come on, come on…"

"Hey! You've reached Dr. Foster's cellphone. Please leave a mess-"

Darcy hung up and tried the lab's landline. Still no answer. She snapped her phone shut and ran back inside, with all eyes on her.

"Something's up. She's not answering."

—-

They all suit up this time. The Kevlar. The star-spangled get-up with vibranium shield in hand. Bruce unbuttons some of his shirt, though Darcy isn't able to fully enjoy it in her current state of mind. Tony walks onto some kind of metal contraption and JARVIS places each part of the Iron Man suit on, and the trademark faceplate comes down.

"Let's go find Thor. And Dr. Foster," Captain America added when Darcy shot him a dark look. "Wheels up in five."

"I'm coming, too," Darcy tried, but the collective glance everyone shot back at her made her shake her head the second she finished her sentence. "Or maybe not. But I don't want to just sit her and do nothing."

"Keep trying Jane. Be prepared to go to the Panic Room," Natasha gave her shoulder a squeeze. "We know we can trust you to make the right decision."

What the hell did that mean? Darcy stared at her.

"You just keep me in the loop this time, alright?"

"Of course," Natasha said, and Darcy could see she was deadly serious.

The team began making their way to the elevator, but Iron Man stayed back. The faceplate flew up and Tony looked down at Darcy with a wry smile.

"Do I get a kiss for good luck?"

At this rate, Darcy's forehead would be just a series of fine lines by the time she was thirty. Her eyebrows rose and she placed her hands on her hips.

"Tony…"

"Do you want to pretend nothing happened?"

Darcy felt her heart sink. She didn't want to seem desperate, but God, no. She liked this guy, a lot. Even if he acted like a jackass most of the time. And also he was her boss. Darcy had almost forgot that part; she wanted to roll her eyes at herself. The cliché of clichés.

She leant upwards and crushed her lips against his to make her point. "No."

"Hey!"

Darcy and Tony turned their heads, the whole team was back at the doorway, waiting. It was probably Steve who yelled, being team leader and all. Darcy pressed her thumb and forefinger to the bridge of her nose and groaned, while Tony snickered.

"Alright, let's go. I don't see what all the hold-up is about," the faceplate was down again but Darcy could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

—-

Darcy paced in the sitting room because that was all she could do for now. Her phone was on speaker, repeatedly dialling Jane's number. Every twenty or so seconds, Darcy would turn to her phone that sat on the edge of on of the couches and redial once she got Jane's voicemail.

Darcy checked her watch and saw the team had only been gone twenty minutes. It felt like hours.

One of Darcy's many useless skills was being able to kill time by watching trashy TV, so she switched on the massive flat screen in the sitting room, flipping through channels to find something distracting and simple. The rising panic inside her could subside if she found an episode of Dance Moms or Toddlers & Tiaras, surely.

—-  
Several days passed before The Avengers returned. It wasn't for two days until Darcy learned of their location or whether Jane was even alive. Darcy didn't think it was over-dramatic of her to believe Jane's life could have been in danger since it was Loki business.

New reports started coming out of arson and injuries sustained by families. Jane's lab had been blown up. Darcy deduced that either their had been no fatalities since they hadn't been reported, or SHIELD had filtered them out somehow. She couldn't sit still any longer because two days of mindless TV and panic took over her. Neither did she sleep. She ate only when JARVIS tentatively reminded her of the time. His politeness wasn't comforting to Darcy.

"Mr. Stark and his colleagues would inform me if they were to return, Miss Lewis," he explained, when she asked for the tenth time if anything was being kept from her.

She didn't want to get into an argument with the AI, so she dropped it. However, if her boss wasn't communicating, there was little she could do but worry.

—-

The day they came back, Coulson met her in the sitting room. She had become a permanent fixture and it had started to show: there were food wrappers, bowls and plates stacked on every surface, the TV blared, and her eyes were wide and staring at the carpet as she moved about.

"Miss Lewis, we have word on The Avengers' whereabouts, and they'll be back at the Tower within a few hours."

Coulson watched her as she came to a stop, looking up as if she'd just realized he had been standing there.

"What happened? Is everyone okay?"

"Minor injuries that can be easily taken care of here," he answered, evading the first question. This told Darcy she needn't pry: the answer was clearly classified.

"And Jane?"

"Dr. Foster will be staying in one of the apartments. We're looking into her moving her research here since her own facilities no longer exist."

This gave Darcy some relief. Jane on a regular basis again. Someone to talk to. A familiar face. And now she knew she certainly wasn't dead.

When Darcy didn't answer him, Coulson left. Darcy had been alone for so long even she was sad to see him go. She wouldn't have minded just arguing with him about what should and shouldn't be classified to make him stay.

She rubbed her eyes and decided to take a shower. God knows she needed one.

—-

Darcy made sure everyone knew she was glad to see them, running at the team as soon as they appeared in the main sitting room again.  
Everyone looked exhausted, particularly Bruce. They all were covered in bruises and cuts along their faces, arms and legs. Some clothes were torn.

"Oh, God!"

Darcy flew at Clint and Natasha first, much to Natasha's surprise. She threw her arms around their necks and pulled them down to her, embracing them in a three-way hug.  
Clint let out the smallest laugh, more like a cough than anything, and Natasha winced.

"Darcy, take it easy."

"I'm just so glad you're okay," she babbled, and moved onto Bruce, who tensed as she burried her face in his chest. He patted her head nervously but gave a small smile.

"We're all a bit sore, still," Steve explained. "Beaten up, I mean."

Darcy jumped up and Steve caught her around the waist as she kissed him on the mouth, he turned red from the neck up. She may have just done the most patriotic thing in her life.

"Sorry. I'm just so glad."

She felt an arm on her waist, and she knew it was Tony. She took her time to react, slowly turning her head to face him, while the rest of the team started to move away to sit down or find some food. Clint and Steve went straight to the kitchen while Natasha threw herself on a couch, sighing.

"You okay?" Tony asked, his voice low. He was smiling at her with several cuts on the side of his face. Darcy saw that parts of his hair was singed.

"Me?"

Darcy felt the sudden urge to cry. Of course she was fine. But what about him? What about those guys who'd just dragged themselves back from God-knows-what?

"You're ridiculous."

Tony just laughed at that, and gave her hand a squeeze before joining Bruce on the balcony, probably to annoy him.

—-

"It's so good to see you."

Jane greeted Darcy from the hospital bed with open arms and a wide smile. She had cuts on the side of her face and a brilliant black eye. Other than that, she was glowing, with Thor beside her bed.

"I came as soon as JARVIS could find me a decent enough basket," Darcy placed the hamper of chocolates, Ben & Jerry's, bath salts and scented lotions on the beside table and leaned over to hug Jane.

"Please don't get up," she said to Thor, and wandered over to him to give him a hug. "I've never been taller than you ever, so I want to take full advantage of that opportunity."

Jane explained that she had a lot of burns on her body, plus the minor bruising.  
"Thor won't stop apologising," Jane murmured, as if he weren't present. "It's not his fault."

"You were just stubborn about trying to save your lab, right?" Darcy rose an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Unless Loki torched the place with you inside."

"Both. He was determined. So was I," Jane sounded full of regret. "I guess I don't have any choice about who I work for anymore."

"I'd like to say something like, 'SHIELD's not that bad', but I wouldn't know how accurate that statement was, sorry," Darcy tried not to sound too bitter, but her own encounter with Loki was still fresh in her mind. She eyed Thor. "Stop moping. Aren't you glad your girlfriend's okay?"

"Of course! However I am afraid my brother may strike again, and Jane will feel the full brunt of his fury," Thor mused, eyebrows knitted together with concern. "We must prepare for anything."

Jane gave the smallest sad smile, patting Thor's enormous with her own tiny fingers. It was such an odd contrast, but Darcy saw them as a perfect fit. She rolled her eyes at the mushiness, but she couldn't help but be happy for Jane. She deserved this relationship after all that had happened.

"I'm volunteering to assist you in anyway, Jane," Darcy said with a determined nod. "I need to branch out from Tony."

Jane narrowed her eyes. "What did he do?"

Darcy felt her face flush. "Nothing. I just think I'm better use to The Avengers if I help everyone. I don't want to be limited to getting Tony coffee and food, answering his phone calls every so often. I'm not a secretary."

"You're definitely not," Jane agreed, but she still regarded Darcy with mixed amusement and suspicion.

Darcy quickly changed the subject to anything other than Tony Stark.

—-

Darcy didn't know how to handle her own feelings, especially now that she'd had several days alone with just her thoughts to occupy her time. What she had known when the team left was that she wanted them all to return safely. What she hadn't anticipated was how much she wanted Tony when they returned.

It was distracting all night: they ate together in the sitting room (Thai take-out, because who really gave a shit about calories when you'd just saved the world – again), chatting together about nothing really at all, or lapsing into silence, and Darcy keep looking Tony's way, making eye-contact.

Okay, she was being obvious. But the growing need over want meant the heat in the pit of her stomach was almost frustrating due to anticipation. She was the first to finish dinner, and she walked off to the kitchen.

Tony wasn't far behind. They washed their dishes in silence and left them by the sink, and Darcy turned her heel and lead Tony to the elevator doors.

Once the doors opened, Tony pulled her inside, pressing her against the wall and kissed her. Darcy pressed her tongue into his mouth, dragging her fingers up his back beneath his shirt, enjoying the skin on skin contact.

They broke apart, and Tony nuzzled into her neck, wrapping his arms around her waist. Darcy wasn't about to ignore how hard he was against her thigh, though this was turning into a touching moment.

"Did you mean what you said earlier?"

His voice was so small Darcy didn't recognise it. He moved his face up again from her neck and rested his forehead against hers.

"About whether I wanted to pretend nothing happened?"

He nodded, dubious. Darcy pretended to consider it for a moment, teasing him. And for a second, he believed her hesitation. She clutched at his face, boring her eyes into his.

"Hey. I don't regret anything. I want this," she kissed him for emphasis. "I want you."

"I've screwed up a lot of things before. I don't want to fuck this up when you could just -"

"I am not making a run for it, okay? We can work out this monogamy thing."

And whatever thoughts had been troubling Tony at that point, their age difference, the fact that he was her boss, the danger that came with dating a superhero…they were gone. They barely got out of the elevator and into Darcy's apartment before they started feeling up each other over their clothes like a pair of teenagers.

Tony pressed her up against the back of the door as it slammed behind them, Darcy threw her bunch of keys somewhere towards the kitchen counter before jumping up to wrap her thighs around Tony's waist. He nearly dropped her before grabbing her ass and lifting her, groaning against her mouth.

He managed to take her to her bedroom, somehow without tripping over anything, because Darcy really should have cleaned up a bit if she'd anticipated visitors. They tumbled onto the bed, and Darcy tugged Tony's shirt off as he lifted his arms.

She hadn't seen him shirtless before then; he was lean but had toned muscles from years in his workshop, and no doubt the superhero thing had kept him in good shape. The arc reactor gave off a soft glow in the dimness of her bedroom, and Darcy suppressed an outright purr as she pushed Tony into the mattress, pulling at the waistband of his pants to free his erection.

This wasn't just some stupid crush. This was give and take. Two consenting adults, and this wasn't the first time this was going to happen. Darcy's lip curled as Tony regarded her with dark eyes. No, there was plenty more where that came from.

She ducked her head and took him in her mouth, humming. Tony hissed, for once actually remaining quiet as he concentrated on her lips, and then her tongue as she swirled around him. He reached down and tilted her chin up to keep eye contact, and Darcy felt his thigh muscles tense as she massaged them slowly with small circles.

"Sorry," he babbled, as he bucked involuntarily, Darcy gagging momentarily. She stopped before she went too far, rising up to kiss Tony greedily on the mouth.  
"You're wearing way too many clothes."

Tony was practically growling, panting against her mouth as she undressed her with calloused fingers. First the drawstring of her sweatpants, the same ones from the first time they fucked. He pushed down the waistband with splayed fingers and cupped her ass as he freed her.

Darcy moaned, which only encouraged Tony to roll on top of her and lunge at her exposed neck. His fingers slowly made their way up under her t-shirt. He placed two fingers at her sternum, just under the lip of her bra, his hand rising with her chest as her breathing became more shallow.

Darcy tugged at her bra, unclipping in clumsily before letting it drop to the floor. Tony's eyes dropped before snapping up again to Darcy's face.

He looked like he was about to say something, but Darcy cut him off with another crushing kiss, pulling him on top of her. There was a brief pause as Tony pulled down her underwear with one hand, before slamming into her with a groan.

"Fuck," he gasped, her cunt tight around him as he pulled out just a little before slamming into her again. His pace quickened and Darcy could already feel her orgasm rising inside her.

She rose her legs further up until her ankles were at Tony's shoulders, and she felt herself stretched out and falling apart so sweetly, coming within seconds.

Tony's breathing was coming out in little huffs, sweat starting to show on his chest and face. His face was screwed up in determination as he fucked her in a frenzy.

"Tony," Darcy murmured, and she grabbed one of his hands guiding him to her clit. "_Tony._"

She made a soft whimper and clenched around him, coming for the second time as his digits grazed against her.

She dropped her legs, and they changed positions: now he was on his back writhing against the pillows with his hands on her breasts as she rode him with a hand pressed against the headboard on the side of Tony's face. Her other hand occupied her clit this time, rubbing as Tony was fully sheathed.

"I'm so close," she choked, and Tony lifted up again to rock with her in his lap, and she gripped his shoulders this time as she felt herself come again, her mouth on Tony's neck open in a silent scream.  
Tony eased up as he fucked her down from her orgasm, building her up again for another as his hand snaked towards Darcy's own, and they rubbed her together as Darcy squeezed her eyes shut, clenching around Tony. He shuddered, groaning, and held Darcy to him, flattening her chest against his as he shook with his own orgasm.

Darcy's eyes fluttered and she sighed, stroking the back of his hair. She could get used to this.


	5. Chapter 5

Tony wakes in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar place, and it takes him a good twenty or so seconds to get a grasp on his surroundings before he remembers the adult sleepover with Darcy. He's sat up in bed, rubbing his face with a snuffle. He rarely sleeps through whole nights anymore unless he's got particularly hammered.

Darcy stirred next to him, rolling onto her other side to face him and presses up against him: Tony smirks at her, revelling at her naked body beneath the blankets.

He pulled her towards him and rested his head on her chest, Darcy wrapping her arms around him and sighing in her sleep.

Tony watched her for some time before drifting off.

—-

Darcy enjoyed having regular sex with Tony Stark over the next few weeks. He was experienced and considerate in bed, even polite at times when he insisted she climaxed before him every time. Darcy discovered he had no real sense of personal space in any situation, not just work. His persistence was often endearing, but she couldn't stop other responsibilities from getting in their way.

During the third week of their – well, whatever it was that was going on – Tony stayed three nights in a row in Darcy's bed, dead to the world after having fucked each other's brains out into the early hours of the morning. It had been a good week. Darcy showered and got dressed, remembering she had a meeting with Jane that morning to sign contracts. She'd be officially working for the government by that afternoon.

"You're leaving?"

Tony's hair was sticking up and his eyes squinted at her as he rubbed the sleep from them. He looked a little ridiculous, in his own adorable way.

"I have to see the suits," she said as she buttoned her blouse. Today wasn't a jeans and t-shirt day, much to her despair. She liked not having to worry about what she wore 99% of the time, but since she was meant to make a positive impression before she could be hired, business wear was ideal.

Tony pouted, dropping his head back down on the pillow.

"Aw, am I making you feel cheap?"

Tony grumbled and rolled over. Darcy strapped on a pair of heels, her only unscuffed pair, and leant down to kiss Tony's bare shoulder.

"I'll only be a few hours tops. Maybe we'll have lunch."

Tony bolted upright as if he'd just remembered something, his eyes wide.

"You're having dinner tonight with me and Rhodey."

"I am?"

Tony nodded, before jumping up from the bed, naked, to find his pants.  
"You realise it's Thursday, so I can't get too drunk tonight? Some of us have work in the morning."

This was a little mean of her. It wasn't like Tony wasn't working – his main project at the moment was constructing a suitable device capable of keeping hold of Loki for when they were likely to arrest him in the future. So far he'd been collaborating with Bruce on different theories on how to control Loki's magic once he was inside the – well, it was going to be a big box. The big box hadn't been the most interesting project Tony had, but it was a necessary part of fighting his everyday boredom, since they had just been waiting around for Loki to make another appearance for weeks.

Tony's days had no real structure, since Darcy had expanded to helping his colleagues with their own day-to-day lives, though she occasionally shared her lunches with him when he came and found her in the afternoons, his hair and clothes matted with grease. He'd make the same wry smirk whenever he saw her, pleased with himself, and their relationship had quickly gone from professional to obvious with a capital 'duh'.

It was mostly Tony's fault, since he always was very touchy-feely with the rest of the team, only with Darcy had he been exceptionally frequent with his shoulder squeezes or pokes. Darcy only had to jab him back in the ribs one night and the rest of The Avengers knew everything. Natasha even smirked a little.

"Ah, not too drunk. Got it," Tony teased, pulling his pants back on, jumping up and down on the spot.

"And I shouldn't be nervous at all about meeting one of your oldest friends?"

Darcy knew she was being a little petty, but, you know, it was Thursday. She was craving the weekend by now and wanted to relax. Anything even slightly stress-inducing was unfavourable right now.

Tony glanced at her after he shoved his shirt over his head. "No, babe. Why?"

Darcy sighed. She didn't like it, but there was still a lingering sense of doubt whenever she was with Tony. She tried to shrug, but he was wrapping his arms around her within seconds, a hard kiss on her mouth as he cradled her head with one hand, the other at her waist.

"Never mind," Darcy forced a smile and sighed happily against Tony's lips. She decided to ignore Tony's concerned, searching gaze as he tried to figure out what she'd been saying without words.

—-

Coulson wasn't present at the initial contract-signing business-y meeting (Darcy was starting to think she maybe over-thought the whole morning, since Jane just produced a stack of papers for her to sign the second she turned up in the lab, not waiting for some kind of hint of approval from the two SHIELD suits that were hanging around). This was a little disappointing for Darcy, because she wanted to gloat about her outfit; see, I can be responsible, assface.

The suits left within minutes. Darcy stared after them with her coffee mug to her lips.

"Why were they even here?"

"Because they know you're fucking Tony Stark."

Darcy coughed, nearly choking. "Uh, sure."

"You were going to tell me, right? You didn't just send them to tell me you were now engaged in a compromising relationship with Iron Man?" Jane's eyebrows hitched up to her hairline, and she crossed her arms.

Darcy felt her face flush and her stomach flip. "Is that what they're calling it?"

"It's what Fury described it as, at least."

Darcy stared at her, regaining some confidence as she took a large sip from her mug. She pushed her glasses up her nose.

"And you disapprove of him."

Darcy suppressed the voice in her head telling her to yell 'you're not my mom' as Jane looked uncomfortable, like when Darcy told the hospital receptionist she hit Thor with a car.

"Jane, I can look after myself," she snapped as Jane opened her mouth to say something more. She didn't want to think about the conversation she could initially have with her actual mother, if she ever did return her calls.

Darcy pushed back the guilt and changed the subject.

"Give me something to do."

—-

Dinner went better than expected. Darcy remembered to shake Rhodey's hand when they met up in the Avengers Tower foyer. The way he surveyed her, Darcy knew he was expecting someone she wasn't.  
Tony had a reservation at some quaint Japanese place Darcy heard about from Natasha. She was pleased Tony had listened to her suggestion. He seemed to be on his best behaviour, joking with Rhodey and not making things too awkward by being overly touchy-feely.

Then came the weird conversation about Pepper that totally threw Darcy off. She knew they all went back over a decade, and that Rhodey and Tony had known each other since at least college, but Darcy still didn't appreciate Rhodey being all defensive like she'd done something wrong by dating Tony after Pepper. That wasn't her business.

"She's doing pretty well, Tony, since I last saw her. Maybe you'd know that too if you bothered visiting every once in a while," Rhodey muttered over his beer, and Darcy averted her eyes, pretending to be super fascinated by what was on her plate.

Tony narrowed one eye at him. "She's doing fine without me, I'm sure."

"That's not the point. You were a pretty strong unit, and now that you and Darcy-"

"Hey." Darcy snapped, because that was enough. "Don't talk like I'm not here, okay?"

Her face was burning as Rhodey stared at her. Tony looked smug.

"I'm guessing Pepper's not the type of woman to be calling up her ex's friends, crying about how much she misses her ex, trying to use you, Rhodey, to get Tony to go back to her, right?"

Rhodey frowned.

"Yeah, you should give Pepper some more credit," piped up Tony, pointing at Rhodey with his chopsticks. "She broke my heart."

Well, no-one knew what the hell to say to that.

—-

Darcy was quiet the rest of the night, unlike her. Thoughts were chewing away at her and she didn't know how to tackle them, and she was sure she didn't want to talk to Tony about them with Rhodey in earshot.  
Tony followed her back to her apartment, but she wasn't in the mood to touch him. When he leaned in to kiss her, she moved her head to the side so that he caught just her cheek instead.

"Uh."

"Tony," Darcy warned, and pushed him back with her hands on his chest. "What are we doing?"

"Sexy things? I hoped?"

"Could you please be serious for five seconds?" she snapped, and sat on her bed, sighing and closing her eyes for a second. "I know you don't ever want to be, but just shut up, please. Listen to me."

Tony scratched the back of his head. He undid his eye with his other hand tiredly. "Okay."

Darcy didn't like to see him visibly deflated because of her, but she couldn't keep these suspicions inside her for much longer.

"Am I a rebound? Is what happened with Pepper really that complicated? I just – I just —"

Darcy sighed again.

They stared at one another for several moments before sitting beside her, taking taking her hands in his and giving her another long stare.

"I didn't think that what's happened with Pepper would happen. Neither what happened with you."

Darcy's heart sank. "If you thought you'd stay with Pepper forever, tell her that. I'll step aside. It's not my business. Sometimes I wish I never knew she existed. She probably thinks the same of me."

God, this was so high school Darcy wanted to vomit. She wasn't far off having someone stuff a mean note in her locker about stealing boyfriends.

"Pepper couldn't take me any more. I made things…really difficult. It's entirely my fault."

In these rare moments of genuine emotion, Darcy wasn't ever quite comfortable knowing he kept this sadness inside himself 99% of the time, only revealing himself when things got really bad.  
"I just think that eventually…"

"I'll leave you?"

Tony gave the smallest smile.

"Well, Stark. Give me a little more credit."

Darcy understood now. For years Tony had always had flings each week (or day) until he saw how important Pepper truly was to him. They fell apart, because of him. Now he was expecting to repeat this with Darcy.

"You better not think I'd get rid of you that easily," she added. "Just because you're Iron Man doesn't mean I wouldn't kick your ass into gear."

Tony laughed at that, looking relieved. Darcy lifted her hands from Tony's and began undoing the buttons of his shirt. He kept on laughing.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking off all your clothes."

—-

Darcy was in the middle of typing up schedules for the week when Loki decided to smash into the penthouse for the second time in six months.

Darcy felt the blast easily from her desk, and jumped. The coffee in her mug spilt onto a stack of memos and she groaned.

"Ugh, Thor, if that was you -"

Something, or someone, smacked her on the side of the head, sending her across the sitting room - where her desk had taken up permanent residence – and she landed against a wall.

"Hello again."

Loki greeted her with the same manic grin as last time.

"What the fuck?"

From where Darcy was lying on the carpet, her eyes glided from this boots up his armour to the staff Loki clutched in one hand. It had a distinct blue glow to it.

"I didn't have this the last time. Maybe Agent Barton would be able to tell you more about it."

Darcy knew she needed to stall him as long as possible before anyone could turn up to catch him. She knew that within seconds of his arrival, JARVIS would have alerted the others.

"No, no. Don't think about it," his voice was ice, and he pointed the staff straight at her this time.

Darcy's mouth went dry, and she swallowed desperately, scrambling away from Loki on the floor, sure that if she could just get to her bag by her desk –

Loki grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her from the floor roughly.

"I said, don't think," he pushed her against the wall, lightly pressing the glowing staff on the top of her left breast. "about it."

Darcy immediately had the feeling of being drunk. A kind of numbness took over, and she didn't care as much about Loki being there. Everything was just fine.

"There you are," Loki whispered, his smile back again, this time warm and welcoming.

Darcy sighed, returning a lazy grin.

She took Loki's hand.


	6. Chapter 6

Within seconds of having put Darcy under his control, Clint and Tony arrived.

"Darcy!"

Darcy rolled her shoulders and looked back at them through her eyelashes, sighing. Loki watched as what had taken over her emptied her of her original panic. She had become accepting and calm.

"Tony, her eyes."

Clint had frozen, his voice low.

Darcy's eyes were the same icy blue Clint's own had been last year the firs time Loki came. For all their brilliance, her eyes only reflected someone cold and empty, waiting to be spoken to. Her eyes travelled back to Loki expectedly.

Clint watched in horror at the wordless exchange between them, before a white-hot rage broke through the initial shock.

However, Tony was the one to move first.

Without his suit, Tony was limited in his abilities, but he wasn't thinking that when he lunged at Loki, attempting a punch, only to be thrown aside by one swipe of Loki's sceptre. Clint followed seconds after, this time going for Darcy, but Loki was quicker.

He lifted the sceptre and placed the sharp point at Darcy's throat, and though Darcy showed no reaction, the message was clear. Let them leave and Darcy wouldn't be harmed.

—-

What happened over the next day and a half would only remain fragmented in Darcy's mind for the rest of her life. Being under Loki's control meant memories were less clear because her actions were not her own. She didn't have to think through anything because her plans were already made for her.  
Loki and Darcy fled the Tower, and Darcy woke up late in the night on the floor of an apartment in Brooklyn, having no idea how she got there.

Loki was sitting beside her on the floor.

"My head hurts."

"My apologies," Loki said, though he showed no sign of actually being sorry. He looked paler than ever; there was no other word to describe him but unwell.

Darcy watched as he gripped his sceptre a little tighter, cracking his neck.

"You're not really here 99% of the time, are you?" Darcy ventured.

Loki glared at her. "And most mortals are? Spending all their time eating, sleeping…"

He looked Darcy up and down. "Fucking."

Darcy would have normally felt a chill down her spine and fled, but in her current state of mind, she just shrugged.

"I guess you're right. But what makes what you're doing so different?"

Loki wasn't used to minions having an opinion. He narrowed his eyes at her, but Darcy didn't flinch.

"Just do what I tell you to do."

"No, I want to pry," Darcy insisted, sitting up and crossing her legs. She put her hands on her knees and leant forward and stared Loki down. "What makes you special?"

Loki struck her across the face without warning. Darcy didn't scream or even gasp.

"Be quiet."

Darcy pouted. She had always been argumentative as a child, forever trying to get her own way with her mom. Her jutted her chin at him.

"You're sick. You look like a junkie. Do you know what that is?"

"I'll kill you if you keep talking to me like that!"

"No, you won't. I'm all you've got right now, so if you want me to work for you, you're going to have to tell me the truth. You're ill, aren't you?"

Loki looked like he wanted to throttle her. His breath came out in an impatient huff. He gave the slightest nod; Darcy barely detected it.

"Why? Is it because of where you were banished?"

Loki didn't look at her, but starting talking:

"It was a remote place. There was no colour anywhere but on my own body. There was no heat, no light. There was also no sound."

Darcy frowned. "You went a bit nuts. Nuttier than usual."

Loki shot her a dark look. "It was not pleasant."

—-

Darcy woke again on the floor, this time with Loki's death grip on her arm.

"Time to leave," he said, and she nodded.

—-

Teleporting wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It wasn't what Darcy expected, for she wasn't made for it. Instead of just appearing at one place after leaving another, she felt stretched. It took a few seconds to remember where she had been before as Loki dropped her hand, surveying the view of the sea from Tony's second home in Malibu.

"Ugh," Darcy groaned, doubling over. "I don't like that."

Loki ignored her complaint.

"We will have to be quick. It won't take long before someone turns up if we break in."

Darcy felt a sudden determination within her to smash every window and Loki's smirk turned into a broad grin. She wasn't afraid of him any more, so she smiled back.

"Okay," she said, listening to the urges inside her, nodding.

Loki lifted his sceptre and a beam of light began to protrude from its end, growing larger, until it shot out of it, smashing the large windows, glass flying everywhere.

Darcy felt her face sting, realising some of the glass must have hit her, but never mind. For whatever reason, she didn't care too much about her own body; only getting inside was her concern at that moment.

Darcy had never pillaged before, but by the way Loki threw himself at every shiny, clearly valuable thing in sight told her he had first-hand experience. Tony's living room was enormous. Typical. Also, there was a waterfall to the side near some stairs to the basement.

"Miss Lewis, I have alerted -"

"Shut up, JARVIS," Darcy snapped at the AI. "Tony can take it. I'm sure whatever is broken here he can easily replace."

She and Loki exchanged a look. She felt the corner of her lip give an upward pull and she placed her hands on her hips.

"Ah, a wide-screen TV."

She'd secretly always wanted to smash one. Her secret desire to wreck someone's house probably had something to do with repeatedly watching the Since U Been Gone video when she as a teenager.

She and Loki ripped the television from the wall, sparks flying, and dropped it onto the floor with a loud bang.

"Cool."

"Indeed."

—-

After a few minutes of mindlessly destroying valuables, Darcy turned to Loki, having felt his eyes on her the entire time.

"How does it feel to destroy things precious to another?"

"It feels…oddly good," Darcy said slowly, gazing around at all the broken glass and torn paintings.

"Even if it is your lover's belongings?"

Darcy stared at him, and what she wanted to say wasn't coming out. She struggled to speak, something that rarely ever happened to her.

"I…"

"He doesn't deserve this prosperity," Loki insisted. "He lives a life of excess when I had everything taken from me. He doesn't suffer while others have suffered. That's not right, is it, Darcy Lewis?"

Darcy still couldn't speak. There was a sudden sharp pain, like a ripple of a migraine, rushing through her head. She gave a yelp, clutching her skull, squeezing her eyes shut against the pain.

"Loki, please. I can't think —"

"I've already told you to stop thinking."

Darcy did as she was told, leading Loki down the stairs to Tony's workshop. It was more or less just like the one in New York, but Darcy paused at the keypad at its entrance.

"Shit. I don't know the password."

"That's easily fixed," Loki muttered, and he pressed his sceptre into her shoulder. "Tell the robot to open the door."

"JARVIS, let me in. I'm authorised," Darcy called, her head tilted towards the ceiling. "JARVIS!"

"Do it, or I slit her throat," Loki snarled, and Darcy felt the same ripple of pain go through her head. Whatever was left of herself from earlier was fighting to come out, but Loki was too strong.

JARVIS weighed the options for less than a second, but Darcy felt the drag of the pregnant pause like everything was in slow motion.

There was a click, and Darcy pushed open the glass door, and when she turned her head to the side, she saw Tony's collection of suits and felt something strange in the pit of her stomach.

"Don't get sentimental. This is a man who's using you for the only thing you're worth mentioning for," Loki snapped, reading the expression on her face, before looking her up and down.

"Did you think yourself special to him? What could he possibly find in you what he could otherwise find in someone else? Someone older, more skilful?"

"Nothing," Darcy whispered. "And it hurts."

Loki changed back to smirking.

"But I love him."

Loki's face dropped. "I know. But I was expecting that not to be a factor."

He lifted the sceptre once more.

"No need. I'll do whatever you want, I don't care."  
He seemed fascinated by her dismissive tone. She sniffed, flipping her hair.

—-

She and Loki watched Tony's mansion go up in flames from a distance. There were several explosions that shook the ground, and Loki seemed pleased with himself.

"Hey, I helped."

"Yes, you did."

They were gone a second later, fingers intertwined.

—-

Darcy caught her breath as the world stopped whirling around her. She was on the Avengers Tower penthouse balcony, gripping the steel railing.

There was dried blood on her hands but she didn't know how it'd got there. All she knew was that it wasn't hers.

Loki was breathing heavily, gulping for air as he leant on his staff.

"What happened?"

Loki groaned, irritated by her voice. "I wish you'd shut up for once."

Darcy's mouth clamped shut immediately, but she kept turning her hands over and over, rubbing what she could of the blood off.

Darcy didn't see Tony come to the balcony, but he was there, alright.

"We've been looking for you two. Glad you showed up, finally."

There was no humour in his voice. Darcy's eyes shot up from her hands to Tony's frown, her eyes widening.

"Tony, what the fuck did I do?"

"It was Pepper Potts," Loki drawled. "You got into an argument."

—-

They were suddenly on the roof. Darcy felt like her head was about to split open.

She didn't stop screaming until Loki shook her.

"It's all over now. No more pain."

She didn't believe him, even under his control. Her pulse was rich and achingly slow.

"What do you want me to do now?"  
She could barely speak. Her mouth was dry and it was hard to keep her eyes open properly in the glaring sunlight.

Loki just gazed around, smirking. He didn't seem the slightest bit bothered by her weakened state.

"You've done everything I needed you for. So you can go now."

"But where, I can't —"

Darcy stopped. Loki nodded.

"It'll be like flying."

—-

Darcy remembered the last part vividly. It was hard to forget jumping off a building. Well, it was more like being pushed because she had no say in the matter.

She remembered the highest diving board at the swimming pool in her neighborhood as a child. That was the sensation it reminded her of, at least. She also remembered her neighbor, Michael, hanging himself when she was thirteen.

"What a waste," her mother said, and her father didn't say anything.

—-

Iron Man caught her. Natasha was the one who hit her over the head with a sharp blow of her fist because no-one else had the heart to do it, despite all the destruction Darcy had caused.  
They all knew her too well to want to harm her, even if it was necessary.

Darcy came around in the street, her head rested on Natasha's lap. Her hands flew about her in a sudden panic, but Natasha pinned her down.

The Avengers stared down at her, blurred faces of bright colours. Darcy couldn't stand to look at them, so it was kind of lucky that she passed out again.

—-

Darcy stayed in a cell for three days. A small part of her didn't want her to be released, anyway. After all, she had seriously hurt Pepper, even if it wasn't her fault.

From what was pieced together by the others talking her through the events of her mind control, she'd thrown herself at Pepper with some broken glass in her hand when Loki decided to try and burn down Stark Industries, too.

Loki had only been successful in minor damages, unlike with Tony's place in Malibu. The suits had only managed to survive all the flames because they were fireproof, but every other scrap was reduced to ashes. Tony joked that it was unfortunate his insurance didn't cover mind control, only making Darcy feel worse.

Darcy had her head on her pillow, rethinking everything over for the umpteenth time when there was a knock on her cell door.  
"Darcy? It's Pepper."

"Uh," Darcy replied, trying to cover the fear in her voice. "Okay."

The door swung open, and Pepper stepped in, business suit, patent leather heels and all. She handed Darcy a package.

"I went to In-n-Out," she said, a smile playing on her lips. "I know SHIELD food isn't the best."

Darcy nodded, trying to join in with the friendliness but failing miserably.

"You know, you can leave whenever? You were cleared over two days ago."

Darcy winced as she took a bite of her burger. "I don't really want to, if I'm honest."

She allowed her eyes to travel up to Pepper's. She swallowed, biting her lip.

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," Pepper said, as if it was no big deal. "It's fine, Darcy, really."

Pepper sat down beside Darcy on her bed, though Darcy really wished she hadn't. She looked like she wasn't going to leave her alone any time soon.

"I stabbed another human being. Even if I wasn't myself, it's totally fucked up."

Darcy felt her face burn as she returned to her burger, falling silent. Pepper watched her eat, making her even more self-conscious. Pepper sighed.

"Darcy, I didn't have to forgive you because there was nothing to forgive, really. But why are you being so hard on yourself? Why haven't you gone back to the Tower yet?"

Darcy side-eyed her. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Agent Barton has been in the same situation as you. He killed a lot of people under Loki's control," Pepper countered. She hesitated before adding: "Darcy, do you not like me? I know that sounds petty, but-"

"Of course I like you!" Darcy said, horrified, spraying some of her burger. "I think you're amazing. I mean, I know you're amazing. That's why I can't understand why Tony would —"

"Don't," Pepper snapped, real aggression in her eyes. Darcy felt herself tense, and she stopped chewing, replacing the burger in her lap. "I'm not going to let do this to yourself, Darcy."

Darcy thought she might cry. She blinked and looked away. "It's true though. I'm not good enough for him. Especially now that I've burned down his place with Loki. I was so easy to manipulate. I bet I was even easier than Clint."

"Darcy," Pepper placed a hand on her shoulder. "When Tony met you, he didn't ever shut up about you. He and I will always be friends, but trust me. He loves you. Truly."

Darcy sniffed, swiping away a fallen tear.  
"I know," she admitted. "And that scares the shit out of me."

—-

Pepper convinced Darcy to return to the Tower that night. Darcy hadn't felt this nervous since she first met Tony. She couldn't help but feel like they were starting from scratch when Pepper lead her up to the penthouse, but the fear was gone once everyone greeted her warmly.

Bruce hugged her, which had never happened before. She clung to him, feeling like someone had just given her heart a mighty squeeze. Again, Tony was the last one to hold her, having watched her take her time with each of them. Clint gave her a significant look, as if to say 'I've been there', before she turned to Tony.

Everyone fell quiet and moved away to give them some privacy. Darcy felt her stomach flip when she thought of Pepper's words from earlier.

"Hey," she said, taking Tony's hands and attempting a smile. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too."

—-

Darcy tried to not think of herself as trash any more. Having someone controlling her mind, using toxic, negative feelings she had with herself hadn't helped, but she was getting better at accepting Tony's love. She tried to push back the thought of her not deserving him to the back of her mind, along with Pepper's blood on her hands.

It didn't help her sleep at night. She struggled to fall asleep each night, even with Tony beside her to comfort her.

She failed to stay relaxed and refused any advance Tony made. She barely kissed him because it was so frightening. If this is me now, I may as well be dead, Darcy thought, as she watched Tony sleep. She longed to touch him, but shook violently just thinking about it.

She was waiting, still waiting for Loki to come back, to take her again. He'd been missing again for a month and there was no sign of him being even on the planet.

—-

She was on the balcony, her handbag nearby with her taser tucked neatly away beneath her schedule and an empty Starbucks cup.

Darcy watched the people below, the endless traffic and life going on without her. She didn't even have to turn around to know Loki was behind her, his staff in hand.

He was deathly pale, his face gaunt. He looked worse than ever. Though it was the dead of night she had no trouble seeing his smirk.

"What do you want?"

"How are you?"

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Dead inside. Wasn't that the plan?"

"An unexpected benefit, more like," Loki drawled, "but I'm wondering what's taken Stark so long. Why he hasn't lost it, too."

_"Why do you care so much?"_

Darcy found herself yelling, all her frustration boiling over. "Why? Why are you doing this to me?"

Loki looked surprised at her outburst. She had more fight in her than he expected, it seemed.

"And if you mention Thor mistreating you in the past, I swear to God –"

The blast from behind Loki was unexpected; Loki soared across the balcony, landing against the railing.

"Darcy, get back," Darcy heard the voice from under the faceplate.

Darcy snatched her handbag and dashed inside, not looking back.

Loki gave a laugh and shook his head at Tony. "At least _she_was smart enough to do that."

Tony rose his arm, preparing to fire, which made Loki laugh only more.

"You're not going to kill me! What good does it do to your team if Thor's only brother is taken down?"

"There's a big box downstairs with your name on it."

Loki rose from the tiled floor of the balcony, leaning against his staff. "I'd expect so."

Loki threw himself at him, crashing against the armour with his staff and repelling them back into the penthouse, pinning Tony down into the carpet.

"It was worth it," Loki hissed. "Just to see how far I could push her. Just so you knew what it was like to be destroyed."

Tony tried to choke out something nasty in retort, but Loki pressed down harder, his whole body shaking. The staff began to glow.

"And do you know what I'm going to do next?"

He leant forward, his face inches from the faceplate. "I'm going to have _you_kill her."

"Yo, asshole," came a voice from behind Loki.

Loki didn't have time to look behind him before Darcy pressed her taser into his neck. He shook this time the the shocks from the tiny device and then slumped against Tony on the floor. Darcy pulled the staff off Tony's chest, breathing heavily.

"Thanks," Tony managed as the faceplate flew up.

"You're welcome."

—-

It was decided Loki would be contained in a remote location (unknown to Darcy because her clearance meant jack to SHIELD, really) using the Stark Box of Doom. That wasn't its real name, but Tony hadn't come up with anything else to call it.

It became clear that Loki had really lost it, having gone to the Tower that last time only to be easily captured by The Avengers. Though Darcy had been proud of herself, she knew he must have given himself up at some point to have been taken down by her taser, though he'd never admit to surrendering for a second time to The Avengers, and especially not to a mortal woman.

Darcy insisted Loki needed to stay on Earth for some time before returning back to Asgard. Some part of her wanted him to have some form of therapy instead of being sent off to that black and white world again by his father, which she knew would happen since he'd made someone attempt to end their own life.

She couldn't hate him. She felt sorry for him, which she knew was punishment enough for Loki. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of anger.

—-

Tony was having a shower when Darcy decided to jump him. She slipped into the bathroom, taking off her glasses to leave them by the sink.

The steam of the shower flowed over the top of its glass sides, but Darcy could still make out the shape of Tony's naked body in there, and she felt a familiar heat in the pit of stomach she hadn't felt in weeks.

She let herself in without warning, and Tony jumped backwards. Darcy still wore her clothes as she kissed him under the shower head without a word, sighing against his lips and feeling the water fall on her head.

She opened her mouth for Tony and his tongue pressed inside, touches quickly growing feverish. It had been a while, and Tony had behaved so well up until then. He pressed Darcy up against the wall, groping her ass. Darcy pulled away, desperately trying to gain control over her own body.

"Take me to bed," she breathed, and Tony grinned down at her.

He turned and shut off the water, and they both stepped out of the shower, Darcy peeling off her wet clothes and throwing them into a pile. Tony reluctantly put a pair of briefs on and dried himself off, watching as Darcy tried to tame her hair, wrapping a towel around her body to cover her chest.

He pulled her by the wrist from the mirror above the sink and kissed her again, hard and greedy.

"Tony, bed," Darcy insisted. "Come on."

He groaned as she broke the kiss, following her into her – _their_bedroom. Darcy lay on the covers with her towel still wrapped around her, making grabby hands at him.

"Come here," she called, smiling.  
Instead of joining her on the bed, Tony took Darcy by the ankle, pulling her towards him as he knelt by the bed.

"_Oh_, okay."

She watched as Tony pushed her towel up, his head between her knees with his hands rested on her thighs before he slowly spread her legs apart and gave one long lick along her cunt.

Darcy moaned, her head falling back onto the bed. She began writhing as Tony's tongue plunged into her, rubbing her clit with his thumb. She shuddered and came quickly, sweetly.

"Come here," she said again, just barely. "Come up here."

Tony grinned, climbing onto the bed and straddling her, planting a trail of kisses from her throat to her chest as he unwrapped her towel.

They were both soon naked, Tony pressing into her, driving and pushing her towards another orgasm as her hands raked up and down his back. He moved faster as she wrapped her legs around his waist, leading him on.

"I missed you, Darce," he whispered passed her shoulder into her hair. He moved to see her face again. "I missed you so much."

"Don't stop."

Darcy was practically wailing beneath him when he rubbed her clit once more. Her whole body shook as she clenched around him, crushing her lips against his with her eyes squeezed shut. Tony only managed a few more thrusts before he was coming too with a groan against her mouth, shuddering. His body was still locked and shaking from the force of it all for some time.

Tony opened his eyes finally and he flopped down beside Darcy, breathing fast. He rolled onto his side, looking back at Darcy with wide eyes.

What they felt didn't need saying as they gazed at one another, Darcy stroking the side of his face, fingers running down from his temple to the hair on his chin. She was going to cry, but didn't want him to be alarmed.

These feelings were mutual, she finally understood. They had been all along.

—-

"Love you," she said, clinking her champagne glass against his.

Tony smiled. "I love you, too."

They each raised a fist, bumping them together before motioning explosions with their fingers, mimicking the sound effects.

"Dorks," Jane called over from the Christmas tree, where everyone else stood with their own glasses.

Even Coulson smiled a little at them.

—-

**A/N**: Thanks a million for joining me while I wrote this fic. It was my first in the Avengers fandom, and my first story in a long time overall. Every review, favourite and follow does nothing but encourage me to write, so thanks again! (This had a really fluffy ending overall, but I just couldn't help myself.) If you wish to read progress on my future writings plus more elaborate author's notes, please follow vibraniumfic on the Tumblr machine.

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